Bummer Summer
by onceuponanevilangel
Summary: Camp AU. When Ruby convinces Emma to take a job as a camp counselor for the summer, Emma is sure it'll be less than stellar, but when she meets the cold, uptight Regina, she learns just how much fun camp can be when you've got a rival. As time passes, though, she finds herself more and more drawn toward the brunette and she starts to reevaluate what constitutes the best summer ever
1. Chapter 1

**This is pretty much going to be Swan Queen fluff. After all, it's almost summer and this little idea grabbed me and refused to let go until I wrote it. Hope you all enjoy and the next chapter should be up soon. :)**

* * *

"I found you the perfect summer job."

"Well good morning to you too, Rubes," Emma said as she walked into the diner and tucked her jacket behind the counter. She grabbed her apron from the hook next to the kitchen door and turned to face the energetic brunette behind her. Ruby was leaning on the cash register and had a grin on her face that Emma knew meant trouble.

"Morning. Anyway, I found you a summer job."

"I don't need a summer job. I have a job. And I'm doing it right now," Emma said. She flicked on the coffee machine and ripped the plastic wrapping off of a fresh stack of paper cups. "You should too since we open in fifteen minutes and I don't feel like getting on your grandmother's bad side today."

Ruby gave an exaggerated sigh and pushed herself up to grab a towel. She absently swiped it across the counter a few times before dropping it and turning back to her friend. "Come on. Just hear me out, okay?"

"Alright, fine. What is this amazing summer job you've found for me?" Emma asked, leaning her elbows on the counter and feigning complete interest.

"Geez, you don't have to patronize me. Now I don't think I want to tell you anymore." Ruby crossed her arms and turned her back petulantly.

"Okay, come on," Emma said. "I'll be serious. What do you want to tell me?"

"Alright, I'll tell you." Ruby spun around with a huge grin on her face. "So you know that camp I work at every year?" Emma nodded and raised an eyebrow which the brunette took as a sign to continue. "Well, my friend, Mary Margaret recently took it over and she's one counselor short and she asked if I knew anyone and I may have mentioned you."

"You what?" Emma asked. She paused with the coffee pot halfway to the machine.

"I told her I might be able to get you to come to camp."

"No way," Emma said, setting the coffee pot down and leaning on the counter. "I spent one summer at camp as a kid and I ended up with poison ivy on my butt, marshmallow goo in my hair, a bee sting in my left ear, and a steadfast resolve to never go back. Ever. So no."

"Come on," Ruby whined. She hopped up on one of the tables, crossed her legs, and stuck out her lower lip in a pout. "It'll be so much fun and after that whole thing with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, it might be good for you to get away from the city."

"Oh, so this is about matchmaking now?" Emma asked, raising an eyebrow. The younger woman's cheeks flushed a light pink.

"No! Well, not entirely."

"But you admit that a major part of why you want me to go to camp so much is because you want to get me a date?"

"Of course not! I just think that it'd be good for you to, you know, get out of the city for the summer. Plus there's a boy's camp across the lake that M&M's husband runs and I'm sure they could find a spot for Henry so that you can keep an eye on him and stuff."

"I can't afford to pay rent on an apartment I'm not going to be living in for two months."

"So if we figure out your rent situation, you'll go?" Ruby perked up instantly and slid off of the table.

"I never said that. I just…hypothetically, what would I do about my rent situation if I was going to go?" Emma fidgeted with her apron and moved to flip the sign on the door to 'Open'.

"You could _hypothetically _talk to your landlord and see if he can cut you a deal. After all, you always pay on time and his son totally still has a thing for you."

"And what about the diner?" Emma asked, putting her hands on her hips and smirking at her friend. "If we're both gone, who'll work here over the summer?"

"Are you kidding?" Ruby asked incredulously. "Granny'll just hire some teenagers for minimum wage and let us come back when we come home." Emma was quickly running out of arguments and Ruby smirked as she watched the blonde wrack her brain for more excuses. "Think about it, Em. You're great with kids, you'll be in charge of a cabin of six eleven-year-old girls, most of whom have been to camp before, you know first aid and CPR, and if you come, you'll finally get to meet Belle and the rest of my camp friends."

"I'd get to meet your elusive camp girlfriend?"

"Yep. And I promise you, Camp Storybrooke is amazing. Whatever craptastic experiences you've had, I promise you that you'll have the time of your life there."

Emma sighed deeply. "Alright, fine. I'll talk to your friend. Can you set me up with a meeting?"

"Awesome!" Ruby squealed. She raced forward and hugged Emma tightly. "I kind of already asked her to come talk to you during your lunch break. I knew I'd wear you down eventually. This is going to be the best summer ever!"

* * *

"Well, Emma, I think I've just found my last counselor." Mary Margaret was a small woman with brown hair in a pixie cut, sparkling green eyes, and smile that lit up her round face. "Camp doesn't for another two weeks, but if you could be there on Monday just so you can get acquainted with the place before the campers arrive, that would be great."

"Yeah, sure. I guess I'll see you on Monday then."

"Sounds excellent. Thank you so much, Emma. I really do appreciate you being able to do this on such short notice."

"It's no problem," Emma replied. "Ruby made some pretty convincing arguments and I guess it could be fun."

"Well I'm sure Storybrooke will give you a summer like no other," Mary Margaret said. She glanced at her watch and shot up out of her seat. "I have to get going. I have some errands to run. I'll see you soon, Emma!" She smiled again and waved at Ruby before racing outside and disappearing into the New York foot traffic.

Emma slid out of the booth and walked back behind the counter where Ruby was pouring a coffee for a balding businessman. Once she had handed over the cup and deposited the sweaty dollar bills into the register, Ruby turned to the blonde with a small smile that betrayed her excitement.

"So you're officially coming?"

"Yup. I got the job."

"Yes!" Ruby shrieked loud enough that most of the customers in the diner stopped to stare at her. "It's official, we are going to have so much fun and it's going to be the best summer ever! I'm so excited!"

"What the hell did you say to her?" Ruby's grandmother asked, coming out of the kitchen and side-eyeing her squealing granddaughter.

"I'm going to camp with her next week," Emma replied sheepishly.

Granny smiled. "Oh, that's nice. You'll have a great time. Ruby, you calm down and grab some more burgers out of the freezer. You're not gone yet."

Once the old woman disappeared back into the kitchen, Ruby grinned again. "You won't regret this, Emma, I promise."

"I better not," Emma said. "Now go get those burgers. Like you grandma said, it's not summer yet."

* * *

"Hey, kid, how do you feel about camp?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like summer camp. Would you ever want to go?"

Henry narrowed his eyes as he licked the ice cream cone he had guilted his mother into buying as she walked him home from school. "Why?"

"Well, I may or may not have gotten a job up at that camp in Maine that Ruby works at and I may or may not have signed you up to go to the boys' camp on the other side of the lake."

"Sounds cool," Henry declared as he licked a mint chocolate chip drip off of his cone. "When do we leave?"

"Monday morning. You're awfully cool about this," Emma said as she licked her own chocolate soft serve. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Ruby actually told me about her plan when she was watching me the other night."

"She did? That little…"

"Come on, Mom. Relax. It'll be fun."

"Yeah, I guess."

"So I'm going to camp over the summer?"

"Yup, kid," Emma said. She ruffled his hair and smiled. "We're going to camp."


	2. Chapter 2

**See? I told you I'd update quickly. Anyway, much of this story is going to come from my limited experiences at Girl Scout camp, so I'd really enjoy any input you have. Thank you to all of you who are following this story. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. =)**

* * *

The ride to the camp was long. Seven hours and fifty-eight minutes to be exact. Ruby had managed to convince Emma that carpooling in Emma's yellow bug would be better than taking two cars, but she started to regret giving in before they had even made it out of the city.

Ruby had put together a playlist which was made up almost entirely of Glee covers and top 40 hits which she and Henry insisted on singing along to. After being treated to an off-key rendition of Jessie's Girl for the third time, Emma was ready to scream. Luckily, the campground came into view just a few minutes later. She didn't think she'd ever been so glad to get out of her car in all her life.

"You made it!" Mary Margaret came racing over, a clipboard in her hand, and hugged Ruby tightly. She smiled brightly at Emma and Henry. "Ruby, I take it you remember how things work around here?" At the brunette's nod, she continued. "Well then, Emma's handling cabin five, so if you could just show her to it. I'm still waiting on a few more counselors to get here, but most of them are either in their cabins or down at the flag pole. Henry, you're welcome to stay in your mother's cabin until your camp starts up if you want to, but if not, you can get an early start at Arrowhead."

Another car pulled up in the gravel lot just as Mary Margaret finished her speech. "Dinner's in the mess hall at seven!" she called as she hurried to the other car.

"It's really hectic before things get started around here," Ruby explained. "Once we get into a routine, it gets a lot more organized. Why don't we get our stuff up to the cabins and then I'll introduce you to everyone."

"Sounds good," Emma replied. "So, kid, what's the verdict? You want to stay here for a few days or do you want to head to Arrowhead?"

"Maybe I'll just spend a couple of nights here and go over later," Henry said, suddenly very interested in the gravel at his feet.

"Sounds like a plan. Grab your stuff and follow Ruby. She looks like she knows where she's going."

"That I do. Now come on!" Ruby insisted. She swung her backpack over her shoulder, grabbed her suitcase, and practically skipped down the dirt path that led to the cabins. Emma shrugged, grabbed her things, locked the car and followed.

* * *

"There's no bathroom."

"Nope. The bathrooms are down the path."

"So what do I do if I have to pee when it's raining or in the middle of the night?"

"You walk."

"I'm walking home, that's what I'm doing."

"Oh, come on. Just give it a chance."

Emma sighed deeply. The cabins had turned out to be large and bright with a set of bunk beds along each of three walls and a small sectioned-off room for her with a bed made in a bright quilt, a dresser, a small desk, and an east-facing window. That was going to suck in the morning.

It wasn't all awful though. At least there were a few outlets along the walls, but the new information about the bathrooms made Emma rethink her decision to come.

Henry had already rolled his sleeping bag out on one of the upper bunks and was plugging in his Gameboy charger. "Yeah, Mom," he said. "It could be worse. At least there's electricity."

"I guess," Emma grumbled.

"Great!" Ruby said enthusiastically. She was far too excited about this is Emma's opinion. "Give me like ten minutes to get my stuff put away and I'll come back and show you guys where the flag pole is."

"Whatever."

"Aw, lighten up a little. By the time we leave, this place will be a second home to you." With that, Ruby hurried outside and to her own cabin.

"What do you think?" Emma asked, putting her hands on her hips and scanning the room one more time.

"I think you're worried about nothing. Like Ruby said, at least give it a chance."

"Where the hell did your optimism come from, kid, 'cause you sure didn't get it from me."

"Good question," Henry said. "Now get your stuff unpacked so we can go to dinner. I want to meet Ruby's friends."

Emma rolled her eyes and walked back into her little room. She put her clothes in the dresser, set her pillow onto the bed, plugged her laptop in and set it on the desk and flopped down onto the quilt. As soon as she did so, she heard Ruby knock on the screen door.

"You guys done?"

"Yup. Coming." Emma stood up and walked into the main room. Henry closed his Gameboy and followed his mother out the door.

"Awesome. You guys ready to meet everyone?"

"Yeah," Henry said.

Emma sighed. "As I'll ever be."

* * *

The flag pole was exactly what the name implied: a towering metal flag pole baring an American flag, the Maine state flag, and a white flag emblazoned with a bow and arrow that Emma took to be the camp flag. There was a wide circle of wooden benches around the pole and a table with water bottles, granola bars, and bags of chips was set up in the center.

There were people sitting and standing all around the circle, some talking animatedly, some laughing, and a couple of younger women playing some kind of hand-slapping game off to one side. They all had one thing in common, though: they obviously all knew each other.

Emma could feel the eyes on her as she followed Ruby to the circle. In this crowd of established friendships, she stuck out like a sore thumb. Lost in her own thoughts, she was caught of guard when she heard a voice scream, "Ruby!" She was almost knocked over as a perky brunette with an Australian accent jumped at her friend.

"Hey, Belle!" Ruby responded. She wrapped her arms around the smaller woman and caught her lips in a kiss.

"So I take it this is Belle," Emma said, shoving her hands awkwardly into her pockets. Henry had already wandered over to the snack table, so she had no where to look but the toes of her new sneakers.

"Yeah," Ruby replied when they finally broke apart. "She mans the arts and crafts cabin. Belle, this is Emma."

"Hi," Belle said, sticking her hand out with a smile. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Same." Emma shook hands with her and let her eyes dart over to the snack table again to make sure Henry was alright.

"Hey, are Mulan and Rory here yet?" Ruby asked, scanning the crowd, no doubt to find her missing friends.

"Yes, but Aurora's helping Mulan unpack I think," Belle said. "They told me they'd be down here by dinnertime."

"Anyone else?"

"Well, all the little girls' counselors are here. Anna, Elsa, Rapunzal." Belle pointed out each person as she listed the names. "Ariel's here for swimming, Cindy's handling the stables, Jane is taking over the ropes course-"

"Any word on the royal pain in the ass yet?" Ruby cut her girlfriend off and narrowed her eyes as she looked at the women around her.

"She's not here yet. Neither is Kathryn."

"Who are you guys talking about?" Emma asked, interested to learn who could possibly earn such a bad reputation with her bubbly friend.

"Regina Mills," Ruby practically snarled. "She's running the other eleven-year-old cabin, so you'll probably have to deal with her."

"What the hell did she do?" Emma asked.

"She's a bit of a bitch," Belle said. "She's pretty closed-off too. No one really seems to know anything about her except her friend, Kathryn."

"That's an understatement," Ruby said with an eye roll. "It's her personal goal to make as many people's lives hell as she possibly can. She struts around like she owns the place and doesn't give a damn if anyone gets in her way.

"Geez. How does a woman like that get hired at a camp for kids?"

"The girls always seem to love her," Belle said. "She might hate our guts, but she'd never to anything to her campers."

"Good to know," Emma said. She was about to ask another question, but she was cut off by Mary Margaret's voice booming through a megaphone.

"Dinner's ready! Hamburgers and hot dogs in the mess hall!"

"Come on," Ruby said, grabbing Emma's wrist and all but dragging her to the edge of the circle. Emma barely had enough time to grab Henry's hand before the crowd started running down the path toward the huge wooden building that must have been the mess hall.

* * *

"Oh my God, this is delicious," Emma moaned as she bit into her cheeseburger. Ketchup, mustard, and mayo dribbled down her chin and onto her fingers.

The mess hall was an open room with long tables to seat the campers, a table that ran almost the entire width of the room for the counselors, and two more tables, one on either side of the kitchen door, that held the food. Exposed oak beams made the room look incredibly tall and there were windows along the two lengthwise walls that let in sunlight. The whole place smelled of pine and food: an intoxicating combination.

"The best part of this place is the food," said a voice directly to Emma's left. A tall, Asian woman with her dark hair pulled back from her face smiled at her. "I'm Mulan. Mind if I sit here?" Emma shook her head and Mulan sat down. "Just wait until the kids get here. The place is so lively. And Sunday is always build-your-own sundae day. "

"Sounds incredible," Emma said. She took another bite and watched Henry shove the last of his hot dog into his mouth. "Slow down, kid. Food's not going anywhere."

"Mulan!" Ruby slid into her seat across from Emma with a tray piled with food and smiled at her friend. "Where's Rory?"

"She ran back to the cabin to get her sunblock. She'll be down soon."

"She's gonna miss all the food," Ruby said around a mouthful of curly fries.

Emma chuckled and took another bite of her burger only to almost spit it out when her jaw dropped as the door at the end of the hall banged open to reveal a striking brunette woman with a smirk on her face. Instantly, all noise in the room ceased. It was like someone had hit a giant mute button.

"Sorry I'm late," she said as she walked-no-_stalked _down the center aisle. "Kathryn sends her regards, but we had a long drive and she's decided to rest in her cabin tonight."

"No worries," Snow said with a small, nervous smile. "Grab yourself something to eat if you want it and make yourself at home."

"And enter Regina," Ruby murmured with a sneer.

"Just ignore her," Belle said. She sat down next to Ruby and squeezed her girlfriend's hand. "She's not worth it."

Emma watched as Regina scooped herself a salad and poured a glass of apple juice. The brunette made her way over to the end of the table and glared at the young strawberry-blonde that Emma recognized from outside.

"You're in my seat," Regina growled. The girl, who couldn't have been older than eighteen, stood up sheepishly and moved to another seat next to the white-blonde woman she had been talking to.

As the chatter slowly descended back over the hall, Emma came to a conclusion about the gorgeous woman that had just interrupted her dinner: she absolutely hated Regina Mills' guts.


End file.
